Book Chat: Building a Fantasy World with Rachel Morgan, author of The Faerie Prince

 

 

Building a Fantasy World

I write fantasy, and the great thing about writing fantasy is that I get to make up so much stuff! My characters are faeries who are essentially as "human" as you and I are when it comes to their personalities, faults, dreams, fears etc. But the world they live in is vastly different from ours, and I had a lot of fun creating the fantastically magical realm of Creepy Hollow.


I'm sure we all have a picture in our heads of what faeries and a magic forest should look like based on traditional fairy tales. But I wanted to put a modern twist on that picture. Why shouldn't faeries' magical "technologies" have advanced along with advancements in human technology? Why shouldn't they have their own versions of social media, for example? Faeries interact with the human realm, but should all their words be the same as ours? Where do they go shopping? What are their magical equivalents for the things we humans use every day?

Here are some examples:

Computer/tablet – Faeries use mirrors for a lot of communication. They can use social media spells on them, or they can see and speak to each other in them. To quote Nate from The Faerie Guardian, a mirror is ... "Like the faerie version of Skype?"(And Vi had no idea what he was talking about, but she nodded anyway.)
Cell phone – Instead of a cell phone, faeries carry a rectangular piece of amber around with them. They use a magical stylus to write on the amber and send messages to one another. Just like with cell phones, you get different kinds of amber, with different levels of spells worked into them (Ryn rudely refers to Vi's old amber as having spells from the Stone Age on it.)
Bath and shower – Faeries refer to the bathing room where instead of a bathtub they have a self-cleaning pool to take a dip in. These pools often come with mini waterfalls to be used as showers. The bathing room is usually filled with grass, flowers and plants to give the feeling of being outside in nature.
Electric lights – Rooms usually have a shining glow-bug stuck to the ceiling to provide light. Unlike a light bulb, a glow-bug has a mind of its own and can sometimes choose to squirm away when you're not around, leaving the room in darkness.

And along with that are the different foods, the different animals, the different plants and trees, the different forms of transport. It's fun to come up with, but I also have to remember everything I've created!

If you want to lose yourself in this magical world, get yourself a copy of The Faerie Prince from the following online retailers (and if you haven't yet read the first book, The Faerie Guardian, you can find out where to get it on this page):

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Nook

Apple iBookstore

CreateSpace (print)

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Rachel Morgan was born in South Africa and spent a large portion of her childhood living in a fantasy land of her own making. After completing a degree in genetics, she decided science wasn’t for her—after all, they didn’t approve of made-up facts. These days she spends much of her time immersed in fantasy land once more, writing fiction for young adults.

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B is for Foxwick's Beginnings and Rachel Morgan's book cover reveal

 

This year's A to Z Challenge theme is: All About Foxwick.

B is for ... Foxwick's Beginnings

Once upon a time, an anthology was calling for assassin stories. Ooo, assassins. Sounds exciting, right? I knew I wanted to enter, but I wanted something different. For one, I decided my protagonist was going to be a woman. Since this was a fantasy anthology as well, I decided I wanted to create my own world.

I knew I wanted the world to be one with royalty, knights, dragons, and more. I searched a Fantasy Place Name Generator and thought about what I wanted to write. The assassin's name was easy: Umbria. The place became Foxwick. And through that anthology's request for submissions, a world was born filled with characters and places I'm still getting to know.

Now here is an excerpt from "Lady Death," the story that started a series. You can find the complete story in A to Z Flashes of Foxwick as well as Women of Foxwick.

Lady Death

“So, the quacksalver is dead?” 

“Yes, the false healer won’t be practicing his witchcraft anymore.” She slowed long enough to produce the thick gold ring Thaddeus enjoyed wearing, his finger attached.

“Thank you. He wanted to kill my wife to save the child.” Leon gnashed the words. His grip tightened around the sword, and he spat upon the floor and attacked. “The other healers aren’t much better.”

She grasped her weapon in both hands and took the brunt of his anger. What would her brother do if his wife and child didn’t survive? She couldn’t begin to imagine his despair and frustration. “Is there any news about Verona and your child?”

“They keep bleeding her, but she remains gravely ill.” He grunted. His movements grew wilder, more erratic, and Umbria struggled to keep up. “She’s delirious most of the time. They want to take the baby. Cut into her. Can you believe it? She’s been with child only six months. He won’t live without her.”

Umbria ducked and his sword banged into a marble column.

Leon’s chest heaved. “I can’t lose her, sister. Our relations with Lochhollow are tepid at best, and they will attack Foxwick, if she ....”

“Doesn’t Lochhollow realize how much you love their favorite daughter?” Her eyes narrowed in concern. She would do anything to prevent another war, to help him. “Would you like me to travel to Valdale? They have some of the finest physicians.”

“Did you know Verona’s parents first denied my marriage to her? They won’t hesitate to attack.” He swung the blade wide, completely missing Umbria. Frustration huffed from his nostrils like a bull snorting before attack. “There’s no use to journey to Valdale either. They can do nothing for her.”

“Tell me what to do. I’ll do anything for you and Verona. You know that.”

He swung his sword toward hers. “I want you to assassinate Death.”

And we have the cover reveal of Rachel Morgan's The Faerie Prince!

Title: The Faerie Prince
Author: Rachel Morgan
Publication Date: May 30th 2013
Description: Guardian trainee Violet Fairdale is just weeks away from one of the most important occasions of her life: graduation. After messing up big time by bringing a human into the fae realm, Vi needs to step up her game and forget about Nate if she hopes to graduate as the top guardian of her year. Everything would be fine if she wasn’t forced to partner with Ryn, her ex-friend, ex-enemy, current ‘sort of friend’. They might be trying to patch up their relationship, but does she really want to spend a week undercover with him for their final assignment? On top of that, the possibly-insane Unseelie Prince is still on the loose, free to ‘collect’ as many specially talented faeries as he can find—and Vi is still at the top of his list. Add in faerie queens, enchanted storms, complicated not-just-friends feelings, and a murder within the Guild itself, and graduation is about to become the least of Vi’s problems.

Add THE FAERIE PRINCE to your to-read list on Goodreads.
If you haven't yet read the first book in the Creepy Hollow series, THE FAERIE GUARDIAN, you can find it at the following places:

Amazon, B&N, Apple iBookstore, Smashwords

To connect with the author, visit Rachel Morgan's blog.